Golden Sun Imilshipping
by calamityxmontag
Summary: I feel that it is one of the more underrepresented couplings in GS fandom. Please read and let me know what you think of my work so far!
1. Chapter 1

Hello, everyone! I am proud to present the first installment of my first Golden Sun story (and first fanfic period)! I feel like Imilshipping is one of the more underrepresented couplings in Golden Sun fandom, so I look forward to any suggestions you have. I don't know if I will be able to upload installments as regularly as I would like, but we'll see what happens with it. Thanks in advance for all your help!

Installment 1:

He dreamed.  
>The scene unfolded in his mind's eye. He sat cross-legged under the shade of a large tree, surrounded by little stick buildings of his own creation. He sat arranging twigs into a tall geometric structure in the dirt. He could hear the laughter of other children a distance away, as they played games in the warm sun of the afternoon. Springtime had come to Imil.<p>

He glanced up at the other children for a moment to make sure they were distracted from his work. When he was confident that he would not be noticed, he pulled moisture from the atmosphere and laced the twigs with it. He cooled the air surrounding the structure and watched as small ice crystals began to form on the twigs, filling the gaps he had left when building the small tower. He sat back and admired his work, and then moved a few feet over to build another structure.

As he gathered sticks for his second tower, a young girl playing one of the children's games ran over to the tree to hide. As she neared the spot where he sat, she tripped on a root and lost her footing, knocking over one of the small ice towers.  
>"You ruined it!"<br>The girl looked down and saw the twigs sprawled at her feet, and all of the other little towers at the base of the tree. "I'm sorry. But you have a lot of other ones too."  
>"You still ruined that one! If you're not going to fix it, then go away!"<br>She frowned. "I said I was sorry. You don't have to be mean." She bent down and looked one of the other towers. "They're frozen."  
>He glared at her. "Yeah. Now go away."<br>"I'm not going to tell anyone, so you can stop being mean, like I said."  
>He didn't say anything.<br>"They're pretty."  
>He ignored her and turned back to his unmade tower.<br>"Can I make one?"  
>He grunted.<br>She collected some twigs and moved outside of the shade, into the sunlight.  
><em><em> If she makes one in the sun,<em>_ he thought, __the ice will melt from the sticks, and it will be boring and plain. __  
>He thought about telling her this but decided not to, since she had knocked down one of his towers in the first place.<br>The girl studied the other towers. "You know, these look a lot like the lighthouse."  
>"They're supposed to," he grunted.<br>She turned back to her own twigs. "Why do you like making lighthouses?"  
>"I don't know."<p>

She stood the twigs up and laid a few over the top, making the aerie. He watched her lace them with moisture, and freeze the water droplets into crystals. To his astonishment, the crystals caught the light of the sun causing the body of the tower to glitter, and the smooth surface of the aerie to reflect the direct sunlight, making him squint from its brilliance. __Her only lighthouse is better than all of mine,__he thought. __Why didn't I think of making them in the sun?__

"There." She wiped her hands at her sides and stood up. "I replaced what I broke." Another child called to the girl from a distance. "Oh, I guess it's my turn to Seek. I better go."  
>He watched her turn to leave. "Why don't they make fun of you for using your power?" He had said it before he could stop himself.<br>She looked at him. "Because I don't use it to scare them, like you did." Then she turned and ran back to the other children, her turquoise hair billowing behind her.

The dream faded, and he woke as it did. What time was it? There were no windows in his room, so he couldn't judge the morning's light. He should have gone to wake the others, but something held him where he was. He lay in bed for what seemed like a long time, staring at the ceiling and thinking. How long had it been since he had last seen her? It was at the Mercury lighthouse, and that was almost six months ago. The fact that she still held a place in his unconscious mind was undeniable; the dream was proof of that. What he didn't understand was why he had had that dream, out of all others. And when was the last time he had dreamed it? Wasn't it just before the Mercury lighthouse? What was the significance in that?

He rose and sat on the edge of his bed. He caught his reflection in a dresser mirror as he did so. He looked so thin. He knew it was no coincidence. He was beginning to forget why he had gone with Saturos and Menardi in the first place, and he couldn't let that happen. He knew himself too well, and what he would do if he allowed himself to forget.

His eyes pulled themselves from the mirror and fell upon Felix, who lay sleeping on another bed that occupied the room. Had he known Felix in another time, under different circumstances, perhaps they could have been friends; but with the way things were now, he knew Felix could ultimately only be an accomplice, at best. Through Saturos and Menardi's influence he had also taken the role as Felix's captor, and though it remained unspoken, they both knew that it would stay that way. He glanced at the other two beds, which were empty. Jenna and Kraden must have already gone downstairs.  
>He rose from the bed and dressed, and then walked out of the room into the hallway. He looked out of the window and judged the sky; it was still early morning, but they would have to leave soon anyway. He turned to knock on Saturos and Menardi's door, but it opened on its own, revealing a tall, severe looking man.<p>

"Ah, Alex, I am glad to see you are already awake."  
>"I am anxious to be going, Saturos."<br>"Is Felix ready as well?"  
>"Ah... I believe not."<br>A woman, very similar in stature to that of her companion, appeared at Saturos' shoulder. "He isn't up yet? He is getting lazy. I think it would be in his best interest if he were reminded why he is a part of our quest."  
>Saturos smirked. "I agree a little persuading would be beneficial, but you must remember, Menardi, that we need him in good health for Venus lighthouse."<br>"And what happens after that?" said a gruff voice. Alex turned to see Felix emerging from their room.  
>"Why, you travel with us until all the lighthouses are lit and your parents are released," responded Saturos.<br>Grim faced, Felix turned and walked down the stairs, with Alex following and the two Mars adepts behind him.

They found Jenna and Kraden seated in the dining room of the inn, eating breakfast. Felix sat down next to Jenna, and she mumbled in protest as he ruffled her hair. Saturos left the group to pay the innkeeper for the night.  
>"We must be leaving soon if we are going to stay ahead of them," said Alex.<br>"My, you are anxious to be leaving," said Menardi.  
>"I just think it would be in our best interest to take as many precautions necessary to avoid an encounter with them," responded Alex.<br>Kraden spoke for the first time that morning. "I am sure they still have a lot of catching up to do. They will have to cross the Karagol, and with the recent monster sightings, they'll have their work cut out for them."  
>Menardi sneered. "As much as I know you would love to stay and see your dearly beloved Babi, we have no time to laze around Tolbi." Alex saw Kraden's hands clench at her words.<br>"And besides, Colosso will begin in a couple days' time, and that will most certainly slow our progress." Saturos had returned. "And I am with Alex. I'm not worried about having any problems crushing the little whelps if necessary, but I don't wish to waste my strength." He looked out the window. "The sun has gotten higher in the sky. I believe it is time to go."  
>At his words, Felix, Jenna and Kraden rose from their seats and moved to the door, with Alex and Saturos and Menardi following.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Installment two!

GSFEfan25: Good to find another Imilshipper. Thanks for the encouragement!

CreationsGoneAwry: Wow, you are very kind! That is interesting take on Imilshipping, one that had not occurred to me before. The spacing thing was actually not intentional, so I am glad you pointed it out. I think something got "lost in translation" in the formatting department when editing on the site. It is something I will try to fix. Thanks again for your comments!

Quick apology for the extensive dialogue, I promise the story won't be entirely dialogue driven. Obviously the dynamic between these four characters is much different than between those in the previous installment. As a result I decided that the best form of characterization for these four lies in dialogue rather than narrative. This is still exposition.

v  
>v<br>v  
>v<p>

Mia opened the door to find her three companions in various states of agitation.

Garet was pacing the room, his hands and teeth clenched. Ivan stood at the window in silence, lost in thought. He turned to face her as she entered. Isaac sat in a chair in the corner, frowning. His eyes flicked over to her as she entered, his face emotionless and his body impassive.

Garet stopped abruptly and stared at her. Then he exploded.

"_What do you think you were doing, going off on your own like that?_"

Mia quickly closed the door behind her. "Garet... "

"Where in Weyard have you been?" he bellowed.

Ivan spoke from the window. "Garet, you do not need to yell. You will draw attention to us."

Garet yelled even louder. "I will yell! She doesn't realize how worried we've been!" He turned back to Mia. "Who do you think you are, thinking you can leave without telling us where you're going!"

She had been sorry the second she had opened the door, but this made her angry. "Excuse me? I am an adept too, in case you haven't noticed! I can take care of myself perfectly well without you! I didn't realize I needed to ask your permission for _anything, _Garet!"

Ivan spoke up again. "Mia, he does not mean any of this, you know that."

Garet ignored him . "Well maybe you _should_ ask next time, because obviously you can't make _any_ smart decisions on your own -"

Mia's eyes flashed. "_I_ can't make smart decisions? When was the last time you suggested anything that wasn't completely idiotic?"

"Both of you, stop." Isaac spoke, his expression hard.

Garet whirled around to face him. "Are you going to let her do this?"

"You are getting out of hand."

For a moment Mia thought Garet was going to explode on Isaac as well, but he seemed to think better of it and turned and strode from the room, slamming the door behind him. A muffled, "Who knows where I'm going or when I'll be back, because I don't care about any of you..." echoed from the stairwell.

A few moments passed and a heavy silence replaced Garet's shouts. Ivan watched her quietly, and Isaac waited for her to speak.

She broke the silence in anger. "Are you going to get mad at me too?"

"Garet is right. We were very worried."

Mia's defiance melted at his earthen expression, realizing what the day must have been like for them. She sat down, facing him. "Isaac..."

Isaac continued to frown at her. "That was very dangerous, and you know it. We didn't know where you had gone, or when you were coming back. Whether you were hurt, or even dead. Ivan told us his powers were useless, that you are especially well-veiled."

"I'm sorry." Her eyes burned.

Finally his face softened. He sighed. "I know. And I know Garet is too, he just needs time to calm down. I just don't understand what was so important for you to leave in the middle of the night."

"I..." Mia stopped, and her eyes flicked over to Ivan.

Ivan looked at Mia knowingly. "Mia. Garet's behavior was inappropriate, but you are still at fault."

Mia blinked back more tears. She didn't need Ivan's moral judgment in addition to Garet's anger and Isaac's disappointment.

Isaac guessed her thoughts correctly. He chuckled. "The integrity of Wind Adepts is unrelenting, sometimes to the point that we wish they would allow themselves to soften the truth for the sake of our feelings." Ivan smiled. "Ivan woke us up, I'm assuming not very long after you had left, to tell us that you were gone."

Isaac was smiling at her, in a simple way, modest and without any trace of the hardness that had crossed his face just moments ago. She wiped her eyes. "I really am sorry, I know it was selfish of me, to just leave like that without telling any of you. But I knew that if I had told you I was leaving you would have come with me. I just... wanted to be alone."

Ivan smiled at Mia. "It was very odd. I have never had a problem locating any of us, but last night it was strangely difficult."

Mia looked at him in surprise. _Did Ivan know that I wanted to be alone?_ Suddenly her injury at his words turned to gratefulness.

Isaac raised an eyebrow at Ivan. "Yes, it was rather strange." He looked back at Mia. "But that doesn't matter now. What does matter is that we know you are safe. Now, will you tell me what happened?" Issac said.

"It was nothing."

Ivan gazed at her with special interest. "You are lying, of course. You had a dream."

She looked at him in annoyance. "I thought you could only Mind Read when in contact with the other person."

He shook his head, smiling. "I do not need Mind Read to know when you are lying, Mia. I just know you too well. And as for the dream, I could hear you talking in your sleep. Garet's snoring kept me up last night."

Mia scowled at him. "And what was I saying?"

"Alex." He said passively.

Isaac's frown returned. "A dream about Alex?"

"I said it was nothing."

"Obviously it isn't 'nothing' if you had to leave because of it. Why did you leave?"

Mia looked away. "I went to the river. I needed fresh air, and to think. I was...unsettled."

"What happened in the dream?"

"Nothing. It was just a memory... from when we were children. In Imil." She swallowed. "I had forgotten it. But it played so clearly in my mind... I just don't understand why I would have that dream now."

It flashed through her mind again: the bright sunlight, blinding on the crystals, the laughter of children, and him, alone and defiant. An inexplicable wave of emotion ran through her.

Ivan interrupted, his eyebrows raised. "That is not a dream."

Both Isaac and Mia looked at him in surprise. "What?"

"A memory, even when sleeping, is not a dream. They are two very distinct things. Reliving a memory while in such a state of vulnerability denotes something much more powerful," Ivan said thoughtfully. "Behind every memory is a mnemonic trigger. Can you think of anything that has happened recently that would trigger that particular memory?"


	3. Chapter 3

Lol, I've finally updated this story, over a year later! I haven't done a whole lot of editing, so it's a little rougher around the edges than my previous installments. Anyway. Hope you guys like it.

v  
>v<br>v

Mia looked up. "Yes... Ivan, when we visited Master Hama... I did not say anything then, because of how distressed you appeared to be with your own encounter with her. But something strange happened to me, too..." She stopped.

Isaac touched her shoulder. "Go on."

"When she was speaking to us, she looked at me in the eyes, just once. And as soon as she did, I had a... a vision."

Ivan raised his eyebrows. "And what was this vision of?"

Mia looked down once more. "Alex. But it was different from the dream. He was fully grown, and incredibly powerful. And so angry." She shuddered. "He was standing alone, on top of a great mountain, and was bathed in this golden light. It felt... It felt like I was seeing into the future." Ivan and Isaac exchanged glances. "It was so frightening... I felt that only death and destruction could follow him, if this vision came true."  
>"But it couldn't possibly be real, could it?" She continued. "I didn't actually see the future, only Wind adepts can do that."<p>

"It is true that prophecy and visions of the future are gifts unique to Wind adepts," said Ivan thoughtfully.

Mia breathed in relief. "So, then whatever that vision was, it wasn't of the future?"

Ivan shook his head, but he looked concerned. "I suppose not..."

"You don't look so sure." Isaac sat down again, crossing his arms. "I am also uneasy. Regardless of whether the vision was prophetic or not, we should still have reason to be concerned. Any vision, whether that of a Jupiter or a Mercury adept, is something to pay attention to."

The three adepts were silent for several minutes. Then Ivan spoke.

"I wonder..."

He was interrupted by the opening of the door. Garet stepped in, slightly out of breath.

"Oh, you're back." Isaac smiled. "Are you feeling better? We were just -"

Garet interrupted him. "I know where Jenna and the others are!" 

* * *

><p><em>We left Tolbi fairly early, traveled quickly through mostly rocky terrain, making relatively good time. Only a few skirmishes with some local monsters, which Saturos easily took care of. We should enter Suhulla in two day's time, and if we are lucky, meet the Jupiter adept and her escort just before reaching the desert...<em>

Alex paused a moment, holding his quill in his hand. They had heard the rumors from some of the citizens around Tolbi, about how the girl had "divine" powers, and how she had fallen from the sky, as a "child of the gods." _How people can be so stupid, I will never know. _He laughed to himself. _It will be good, that we take her from them. She will be able to use and strengthen her psynergy in a way that is not stifled by the superstitions of villagers. I hate to see talent like hers wasted by ignorance._

He dipped his quill into the well, and continued to write.

_If all continues as planned, we shall reach the Venus lighthouse within a month's time. Hopefully, we shall not have to entertain Mia and her friends like we did at the Mercury lighthouse...  
><em>  
>As he wrote her name, he felt his heart pang a little. He scolded himself in frustration.<p>

Why is this happening to me now?I thought I was done with this foolishness.

He tried to push her out of his mind, but it was no use. The memory of her, standing atop the aerie, facing him in disbelief and the hurt of betrayal, burned in his mind. The image had haunted him for months after the encounter. It was only in the past few weeks that it had begun to fade from his consciousness. _That dream, _he thought. _That's why it returned.  
><em>It flooded back into his mind, the green grass, the bright sunlight, all with a clarity that he had not seen nor experienced since he was a child. And her! Her hair and her eyes, more vivid than the clear sky shining down on them both.

He put down his quill, and covered his face with his hands. "Mia," he sighed. _If only I could explain to you why I'm doing this, and who I'm doing it for..._

"Leave her!"

Felix's muffled voice rose from outside Alex's tent, interrupting his thoughts. There was a thump, followed by a snarl from Saturos. Alex strode to his tent-flap and opened it.

Jenna was seated on a log near a campfire, looking afraid but angry. Felix stood in front of her, his face white and his stance aggressive, facing Saturos. Kraden sat a short distance away, looking nervous and uncertain on how to intervene.

"You dare lay a hand on me?" Saturos snarled.

"Keep your filthy hands off my sister!" yelled Felix.

"Or what?" He sneered. "Would you protect her from me? You are weak, Felix, and nothing to my strength! Would you think to fight me? Out of my way, boy!"

Saturos shoved Felix aside, who fell to the ground, and grabbed Jenna by the arm. She yelled and kicked, trying to escape his grasp. Saturos laughed.

Kraden stood. "No!" He shouted.

Saturos glanced over at him, surprised. Felix took advantage of the opportunity and seized his sword from his scabbard, thinking to strike Saturos while he wasn't looking; but Saturos saw him raise the blade, and formed a fireball in his free hand to hurtle at Felix.

"Stop." Alex intervened, with moments to spare. He sent a hurtling jet of water between the two adepts, creating a watery shield. "That is enough."

Saturos' fireball screeched toward the shield, hissing into steam at impact. Saturos snarled in anger.

Alex strode toward the campfire, his face impassive. "Saturos, would you kindly release our dear Jenna? I believe you may have forgotten yourself." He glanced over at Felix. "And if you would be so kind as to put your sword away, Felix. We have no need for those at the moment."

Alex waited as both men stared at each other through the watery veil, their eyes burning with mutual hatred. Finally Saturos thrust Jenna's arm out of his grip and strode towards his tent, his eyes aflame. Reluctantly, Felix returned his sword to its scabbard and then hurried over to Jenna, who was now in tears. Alex approached him.

"Is she unharmed?"

Felix's face was dark. "He did not harm her. But he had every intention -"

Alex strode away, leaving Felix in mid sentence and shaking with anger. Jenna was fine, which meant he could turn his attention to a far more pressing matter: Menardi, who had taken the first watch, was conspicuously absent.


End file.
